I have fallen head over heels for roggenbiers. These brews are made with a good dose of malted rye in their grain bill, giving them a spicy, warm, and somewhat sour character. Perfect, I'd say, for a crisp fall afternoon.

Roggenbier is an extremely old style of German beer that pre-dates the Reinheitsgebot, which effectively sent roggenbiers underground by forbidding the use of any other grains but barley in making beer. The beer was, and is still, made with at least fifty percent rye. It's also usually fermented with a hefeweizen yeast strain to even further accentuate the spicy character of the rye in the finished beer.

That spicy flavor is a bit hard to describe. To my taste buds, it comes across as pumpernickel crossed with gingerbread. The beer is also balanced by warm, toasty malts and a twinge of sourdough tanginess. It's typically a rusty-brown color with a smooth, slick mouthfeel.

I've seen this style starting to pop up more and more over the past few years, especially in Americanized variations. It's still pretty rare to find it in the bottle, but look for it on tap at local breweries and pubs. Some of the best roggenbiers I've had have actually been homebrews, and if you're a homebrewer, playing around with this style can be a lot of fun!

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Emma is the recipe editor for The Kitchn and a graduate of the Cambridge School for Culinary Arts. She is the author of True Brews and Brew Better Beer (Spring 2015). Check out her personal blog for more cooking stories.